By Tim Binnall
Just days after being decommissioned due to structural damage sustained over the last few months, the famed Arecibo radio telescope reportedly collapsed on Tuesday morning. The unfortunate event brings to a close a sad saga which began back in August when a cable supporting the 900-pound instrument panel positioned over the site's 1,000-foot-wide dish suddenly snapped. Hopes that it was an isolated incident which could be remedied were dashed when a second cable broke in early November.
An assessment of the situation by the National Science Foundation (NSF), which operated the 57-year-old facility, found that fixing the cables presented too perilous a challenge cor construction workers who could wind up being killed if the project suddenly went awry. And so, near the end of November, the group made the difficult decision to decommission the telescope and carefully demolish the structure once they could develop a plan of action.
However, before they could set about safely dismantling the radio telescope, nature took its course on Tuesday morning when the elaborate instrument panel plummeted from its perch and smashed into the telescope dish below. In announcing the news, the NSF said they were "saddened by this development," but, fortunately, "no injuries were reported" from the incident. Stressing that "our top priority is maintaining safety," the group indicated that they will survey the damage done from the event and, presumably, figure out what to do with what are now the ruins of the famed alien-hunting telescope.